but you can JB4 the 35is. Not sure why everybody is so hot on dinan. Some of us lived through the E39 M5 saga with Dinan and it was ugly. If you don't know what I am referring to, google it.

Googled it -nothing popped up - if you know of a specific link let me know.

Not having seen the articles, for discussion purposes I concede that whatever you're talking about was not a pretty sight. Regardless, the software tuner vs piggyback argument will rage forever. My issue with Dinan vs the rest of the BMW tuning world is there is no warranty, implied or otherwise with anyone but him. Putting all other issues aside, I find that to be an amazing fact. You couple that with his company's exposure even by offering a warranty in this industry is also amazing.

Think about it: I'm 55 so I can say that when I was younger people had a different idea about what warranty provided - basically it was the respect for a product that if used in a manner consistent with its original design intention, when it broke it got replaced or repaired. Additionally, if the covered item is a toaster, for instance, if I burned my fingers making toast it was because in most cases I was stupid. No one felt they had the right to sue the manufacture when they acted stupid.

Today, that not the case. A warranty is a get out of jail free card. Install a piggyback, run nO2 - ANYTHING - blow the engine clean of the car, reduce the transmission gears to powder, whatever, then strip it all off and have it towed to the dealer the next day and then say "fix it a**hole, and BTW do you have a loaner for me an my friends to use for a joy ride, such as running over curbs in the parking lot?". Oh, and heaven forbid that little Johnny got killed or injured while driving his jacked POS at 155 mph on the freeway, because mom and dad are going to sue BMW for building a passenger car that could be jacked up.

Frankly, I side with BMW on a lot of this stuff an applaud their efforts to engineer ECU codes that capture instances such abuse.

But back on Dinan, I trust his dyno test methodology more than the others, so I figure if anything his numbers are conservative as well. Remember I'm a veteran of the hot rod days and early computer performance marketing hype.

The bottom line:

If you're comfortable with taking your chances with a piggyback or some other tuner, and wrestling with BMW on your own, go for it. That's what's life is all about - calculated risk.

On the other hand, if asked, and occasionally I'm able to offer my 2 cents I can't in good conscience recommend that someone go the other route. I personally met Steve Dinan and thought he was a really nice guy with a high level of integrity. We all know there's plenty of nice guys that have left people holding the bag. But in my book, that's a good place to start getting something, when I know for fact the other way means zero from the start. But again, it's all about calculated risk and how you work the equation.

Cheers

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"Political correctness is a doctrine fostered by a delusional liberal minority and rabidly promoted by an unscrupulous mainstream media which holds forth the proposition that it is entirely possible to pick up a turd by the clean end".-- Unknown